TAMPA, Fla. -- There was a lot of head-scratching about the decision to locate the SEC tournament here. After all, this isn't exactly close to any SEC school except Florida. (The league also couldn't have predicted the historic economic downturn and its impact on fans' spending).

But I will say that Tampa is absolutely gorgeous in March and makes me wish I was catching sun in a spring-training ballpark right now. The media setup is great (I'm sure you were losing sleep over that) and the Diet Dr. Pepper is flowing like water.

We're about to chat with coach Jeff Lebo and players after they wrap up practice at the St. Pete Times arena. I'll have an update later this afternoon. In the meantime, here is one of several Korvotney Barber features that graced the pages of Alabama newspapers this week.